Flowing gases, liquids, and/or vapors (collectively “fluids”) and thus, the systems that cause them to flow (“flow systems”) are employed in a plethora of applications. By way of example, without limitation, conventionally, flow systems are employed in cooling, heating, circulation, propulsion, mixing, filtration, collection, detection, measurement, and analysis systems. Conventionally, mechanical flow systems employ devices such as pumps, fans, propellers, impellers, turbines, and releasable pressurized fluids to generate fluid flow.
In specific exemplary applications, automobiles, aircraft and watercraft all employ such mechanical flow devices for both cooling and fuel circulation; sewage systems and processing facilities and swimming pools both employ mechanical flow devices for filtration; power plants employ mechanical flow devices for both cooling and power generation; environmental management systems employ mechanical flow devices for heating, cooling and air filtration (e.g., for buildings, automobiles, and aircraft); computers and other electrical/electronic devices employ mechanical flow devices for cooling components; and refrigeration systems employ mechanical flow devices for circulating coolant.
Additionally, mechanical flow devices, such as pumps and releasable pressurized fluids, are conventionally employed to facilitate fluid flow in sample collection, filtration, detection, measurement and analysis (collectively “analysis”) systems based, for example, on ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), time of flight (TOF) IMS, differential ion mobility spectrometry (DMS), field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), gas chromatography (GC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS), liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS), and surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors.
Mechanical flow devices such as mechanical pumps, impellers, propellers, turbines, fans, releasable pressurized fluids, and the like suffer from significant limitations. By way of example, they are typically large with regard to both size and weight, costly, require regular maintenance to repair or replace worn mechanical components, and consume significant amounts of power. These limitations render conventional mechanical flow devices unsuitable for many applications. Accordingly, there is a need for improved flow systems and devices.